Site News: 09/04/10

[DemonGoddess]

Jaxxy's unexpected absence

First, I'll start with exactly how long this has been ongoing, to date.

Last known logins/contact-

AFF forums 6/3/10

Nexcess (hosting company) 6/10/10

AFF archive 6/15/10

FaceBook 6/25/10

The last time I received an email communication from her was end of April this year. I have, however, attempted to contact her via email several times. Last time I personally attempted email contact was 8/13/10, from a few different email addresses. I then posted on her FaceBook wall, as well as sending a private message there. All of which have gone unanswered and ignored.

It gets a bit weirder after that. Someone we know in common, posted on Jaxxy's FB wall telling her to contact her and not ignore her, or that the police would be called for a wellness check. She did this on my behalf, hoping that it would spark some kind of response. This, the note taped to her front door physically, and the wellness check were all ignored.

The point I'm getting at here, is that I certainly wouldn't have gone to such lengths to get in touch with someone who did not want to be bothered, had I not needed to for some site business.

As I cannot read the woman's mind, I have NO idea just how long she intends to stay absent.

The end result of all this, is that the hosting wasn't being paid, and the advertising (which is the primary source of funds for the site) was being ignored.

FYI, PLEASE do not send mail to admin@adult-fanfiction.org. That email address hasn't been checked for over 2 years to my knowledge. As I cannot get in to that mail box myself, anything that goes there ends up ignored.

Interim solution in response to this absence

In order to keep the site up and running, and pay the bills, I have taken on the tasks of handling advertising and donations. Let me be crystal clear on this, I do not OWN the site. I am simply taking care of necessary day to day business to keep the bills paid and the site live.

Change in funding email address

At first, I was having people sending any monies raised for site expenses direct to Nexcess. Well, it turns out it was creating a huge problem for their accounting department. I was given a few days to find an alternate solution, so that any monies sent to them came from one place, and were referencing issued invoices. I've done this by setting up my PayPal to accommodate this. For incoming funds, I added a secondary email to the account, which is affforums@gmail.com. This ensures that there is no way I can mistake funds for anything other than what they're intended FOR. I have a subscription payment on file, but have and will continue to transfer funds from my bank account to the PayPal account so that it's paid for with my money, not site money.

How monies will be handled

To keep things completely transparent, I can and will make available a monthly report from the PayPal account. I will, of course, remove private information such as banking details. Anything else I will leave in there.

Some of the advertisers have asked that I set up a recurring payment option for them, so I'm in the process of setting all that up now. Because, at times, the amount of banners a given person may choose to use will vary, you may see refund activity for overpayment for that month.

As I stated earlier, for years I've simply used this account for personal things. Since it is linked to my bank account, I'd rather have the funds come from the account directly, without funding from me. I will make deposits from time to time to cover any spending I may have. This keeps it so the funds never get in to my bank account, and get sent to the hosting company. I did check into alternatives for taking payments, and all of them direct deposited to my bank. This is not something I want to have happen, so we are staying where we're at. For funds to transfer to my account, I have to initiate a deposit TO my account. It is NOT automatic.

Some minor changes

There have been some pages added over the last couple months, through to today.

Content guidelines – This page covers additions to what one can and cannot add to the archive itself. This primarily deals with author note chapters, author note stories, and other things of that nature. It is an addendum to the TOS and will be enforced.

Contact page – This page has the active moderator staff listed, linking to their individual archive profiles. Mine, for example, has many points of contact should a member need to get in touch, for whatever reason.

Donations page – This has been revised significantly. It will be noted on this page as to the actual amount, as the need changes. There are specific instructions on this page, as there is a new page I added today, the Supporters page.

AFF Supporters – This page has a listing (alphabetical) of members who would like for their contribution to be public, and to be publicly acknowledged. I've also linked their pen names to their profiles. Without their contributions (both public and private), we would be in serious trouble, so I cannot thank them enough.

[DemonGoddess]

The past two weeks

In the past two weeks, I found out that the site was in serious arrears ($1800) with the hosting company. In June, Jaxxy had asked them to look into some payments which she felt belonged to the site. This belabors the point the hosting company has, in that it is up to the SITE to keep all this straight, and make sure the bills are paid. In any case, they completed an internal audit which showed that AFF did, in fact, have $1200 not applied. As soon as they found it, it was applied.

There were then some donations, and some advertising monies sent directly to Nexcess. The upshot of it all, was that there was then $103.87 due to pay the balance of the August bill. After I switched the payment option to me (at Nexcess's request), there were then some more donations, and more advertising money. I paid the August balance in full on 9/1/10. I've also transferred personal funds in the amounts of $15 and $30 to it, to cover a payment made 9/1 for $30, and one due 9/27 for $12. The current balance that is strictly AFF funds is at $152.29.

Unpaid staff

Finally, the last thing I wanted to cover was the fact that the staff is comprised of member volunteers, who are not paid, but who do this out of site loyalty. Please remember, that while we all do try to make ourselves available to you, there are some things which make it so we're not readily available. Things such as work and college, or other obligations in real life.

I want to say that without the rest of the volunteer staff, I would be lost. Thank you ladies (and gentleman), as you do make it so that I can handle other tasks when the need arises.

In closing, I thank you for the continued support, in whatever manner you see fit to give it. Without the time and money donations, we wouldn't be here.

Thanks again!

[JoeHundredaire]

After being there with you for the last two or three weeks... all I can really say at this point is you go girl. About damn time all your hard work paid off and you could sit back and enjoy the results.

[xax]

Oh, that sucks. But it's good to hear you're on top of things! Well wishes to all of you helping keep the site up and running. If there's anything I can do to help or anything like that, just let me know.

[DemonGoddess]

Hey xax,

Was wondering where you've been! Glad to see you're still around. You bet, could always use help in different places, as you well know. Thanks for the offer.

Hey Joe,

Thanks for the "atta girl". I sorely needed it.

[Antaris]

This is very welcome news! AFF is important to me and I want to see it healthy and grow. My biggest complaint with Jaxxy (I let her know this after she emailed thanked me for a past donation) was the lack of transparency on the billing side and the only time we had some idea there were issues was every 4-6 months when she would put up a scare alert stating that the webhosting bill was months overdue. I have no problems donating on a regular basis as long as I know they are needed. IMO, there shouldn't be any reason the Nexcess billing should ever go past due and if done correctly, have enough to pay the volunteers for their time/service. What you have currently posted under the Donation page is exactly what I've wanted to see and hoping you keep it updated at least monthly so we know what the balance is and how much additional is needed.

DemonGoddess61, you have been the 'enforcer' of AFF for quite some time and appreciate everything you do and glad to see you at the reins during Jaxxy's absence.

Antaris

[WotanAnubis]

Must... resist... snarky... comment.

No, but seriously, DemonGoddess061, it's good to see you're apparently on top of things. Hope everything works out smoothly. And... well... hope you and your team of volunteers keeps up the good work.

[DemonGoddess]

Antaris,

Thanks very much. I'm quite serious about providing information when requested. It's not hard to do, after all. You're right transparency is very important.

WotanAnubis,

Snark away...I'm rather thickskinned and thanks.

[FairySlayer]

Just so you know I too appreciate all of the work you've taken on to keep AFFN alive and running smoothly, especially on top of the tremendous database work you were already doing. Hopefully things will start running a lot more smoothly, and it sounds like you've made great progress over the old way. With any luck or justice in the universe you can actually have some time to yourself again.

Thanks for everything!

[untamedlady]

It's a relief to see the hard work paying off for a change! It has been a rough ride these past weeks, and you definitely need a shout out for turning this beast around into a positive direction. *sends you a vanilla pepsi* Kudos to you and the team! B)

[WotanAnubis]

WotanAnubis,

Snark away...I'm rather thickskinned B) and thanks.

Well... let's just say, I haven't been able to forget the whirlwind of drama that surrounded Jaxxy's arrival/return. It had something to do with money back then, too.

So now that you've taken over dealing with the money... I just hope there won't be a repeat performance, that's all. I'm not sure the forums could survive another one.

[DemonGoddess]

fairyslayer and untamedlady, thank you.

WotanAnubis- You're right. Not only would the forum not survive it, neither would the site. Having said that, that's the whole point of having complete transparency of that end of it. I keep things out in the open and readily available, this removes or at least greatly reduces the ability to hide things (not my thing ANYWAY). As to getting in to things on a money end, that had to do with monies being sent, and actions not being taken on behalf of the sender. As that was site income, I had to do something to ensure that any future transactions were properly handled, as I'd found out they hadn't been for a long enough time to create some real issues for the site.

This is one of those situations where my applying real life work experience is something I see as a benefit overall.

*sighs* needs to respond when NOT just waking up, B)

[Mystery Otaku]

Ack, you've been a busy little bee lately. This is what happens when I wander away from the forums in which I lurk. **goes back under her bridge**

Seriously, though, you have done so much and asked for so little. At least we are close to getting back on track. **high five**

[AnonGrimm]

DemonGoddess061,

I was all too happy to donate, and plan to on a more regular basis if it is made clear to all of us what is needed. This is exactly what you have done/are doing, and I thank you. AFF is the best home I've yet found for all of my diverse stories, and I prefer to have them all in one spot. It just makes my busy life so much simpler.

Anyhow, it is always difficult trying to pick up the reins of something this big and involved, and it takes a very strong will to make it work. You have all that in spades (I've been paying attention to all of the clean-up efforts and other works, and appreciate them all).

A friend and I once had to take over something this big on the old MSN Groups when it was abandoned. It was a nightmare, and we barely pulled it out of the fire in time after the former owner/manager mysteriously made him the top manager (without asking him) and bailed. He dubbed me "#2" and we rolled up our sleeves. The group had 1400+ members (small compared to AFF, but huge for MSN Groups) and they were all depending on us two to keep it all up and running. So I really do understand what you and the rest of the AFF volunteer staff are going through.

Basically, you're the staff member I've "talked to" the most, but I know you have others plowing along with you, and my thanks and back-patting goes for all of the staff! You ladies and gents rock, and if you need our collective help, just ask.

*high fives*

- Anon

[Rain7777]

Just wanted to say thanks for all your hard work It's a great site and I'm really glad you're on top of things still. Amazing to have such loyal volunteers dedicated to running a site like this. Without you guys I would have no hobby

Thank you!!

B xxx

[WillowDarkling]

Just wanted to add my two cents.

Thank you, DemonGoddess for all of your amazing work and apparently endless patience, even when dealing with computeretards like myself.

If it had not been for this site I never would have gotten as far with my story as I have, and my characters would still be immature five year olds running about in my head.

So, thank you for everything, and thank you to the admins and the mods, you're all amazing and utter geniuses, with a wicked sense of humour too...

[JayDee]

I'd also like to say thanks to you for all your hard work!

[Imasuky Lomae]

I'm going to throw in a thanks as well I spend a lot of time on the site and if anything were to happen i'd be crushed so thanks for everything your doing and have done in the past

[DemonGoddess]

I've gotta say, the support that's being given to the site and staff has been positively wonderful! Thanks to all of you!

[FairyNiamh]

DemonGoddess... you are in deed a Goddess and heaven sent. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication to this site.

*big hugs*

Fairy